LOUIX LOUIS | Soaring high amongst the skyscrapers of downtown Toronto, LOUIX LOUIS grand bar and restaurant is located on the hotel's 31st floor. A mystical and alluring place to enjoy forgotten classics and rediscover the lost charm of conversation.

Adrian Smith, founder of Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, is known for designing unimaginably tall buildings. Along with his record-setting structures in Saudi Arabia, he designed the Central Park Tower, which is now rising and will be New York’s tallest residential tower when completed in 2020. We caught up with Smith, 73, to talk about his designs around the world and what makes them work.

Enjoy the holiday lobby decorations at the Ritz-Carlton as they give back to those in need through Ritz-Carlton Community Footprints.

With the holidays just around the corner, the winter season welcomes a wide array of dinners, parties, and events. Whether starting a new tradition or continuing one long established, it’s likely you’ll be opening your home to friends and family at this time of year. And with careful planning and thoughtful styling, yours will be a party to remember.

For Alexandra Champalimaud, a hotel is far more than just a place for travellers to rest their heads. To this designer, who has spent the last three decades creating some of the most luxurious hotel interiors in the world, these spaces are reflections of the history, culture and art that surround them as much as the people who inhabit them. Yes, a hotel’s primary purpose is to provide food, lodging and comfort for weary travellers, but they have an altogether grander purpose in this designer’s mind — to provide a sense of place.

Whether a rare feature or unexpected detail, it takes something truly unique to distinguish a home as one-of-a-kind. From an architectural waterfall of steel and glass to a centuries-old hacienda, these six properties are true individuals.

Flying over the southern Pacific coast of Mexico, travellers get a bird’s-eye preview of the topographical contrasts awaiting them at their final destination. A magnificent panorama of rugged mountains dotted with farms and villages gives way to pristine beaches and the jewel-toned waters of the aptly named Emerald Coast.

One of the reasons the Hollywood set loves filming in Vancouver — aka Hollywood North — is because this Canadian city is blessed with bountiful natural beauty. Lovely movie-set locales aside, however, a slew of other factors ranks Vancouver right up there among the best places in North America to live in, as well as to visit.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ life with the president is often compared to the legendary court and castle, Camelot. But she’s also tied to some spectacular real-life homes—some of which could be considered castles, of sorts—where she rode through the hills on horseback, met the man she would marry, and then started anew.

The moment you enter through the gates of Chelster Hall, a grand home in Oakville, Ont., it feels like you’ve entered a retreat where all stress and worry seem to disappear. Once you’re past the wide front doors, a magnificent chandelier comes into view. Hanging from a domed ceiling some 30 feet above you, it’s in perfect elegant symmetry with the custom oval Persian carpet underfoot. Just ahead of you are vistas of Lake Ontario sparkling in the distance. On a cold winter day, you can see the mist rising from Niagara Falls.

Lighting and shelter are often intertwined, as they evoke the warmth and familiarity of home — the porch light as a welcoming beacon or, perhaps, seen from the street through the windows, a glow hinting at the lively gathering inside.

Now more than a year since the devastating wildfires in Northern California’s Napa Valley, it’s business as usual in this beloved wine region. Known for its full-bodied cabernets and fruity merlots, Napa Valley is recovering from disaster by nurturing its community- building efforts, two of which are major annual fundraisers — Premiere Napa Valley, a by-invitation-only event in February that supports the local wine industry, and Auction Napa Valley, which promotes local health and educational programs.

Primary colors have a from-the-crayon-box quality that appeals to the kid within. Bright bold blue, red, and yellow often seem best left for rainbows or pop art. But when used strategically, and with the right hues, they can liven up your home in the best possible way.

Vertical gardens, which transform plain walls into lush landscapes, are being employed as signature architectural features in interior and exterior spaces. “Luxury clients, especially, perceive them as a differentiator, a status art piece,” says Irina Kim Sang, managing partner of Miami Vertical Garden.

When it comes to selling that all-important investment, your home, there are many factors to consider. In addition to freshening up the paint — a must before you list — here’s what savvy real-estate brokers across Canada recommend.

You have your home theater, and you’ve got your game room, your bar room, your home office, and now all you want is a little peace and quiet. What you need is a Zen room—a calming space to relax and recharge. “People are very much affected by the surroundings they’re in—their mood, their wellness,” says Rina Okawa of ZEN Associates, a landscape- and interior-design firm with offices in Boston and Washington, D.C. She describes a Zen room as “a personal and private space surrounded by beauty that can lift your spirits up, refresh your mind, and revive your five senses.” “Especially with all that chatter out in the world,” says New York–based interior designer Charles Pavarini III, “we need a space where we can realign our thoughts, our energies.”

There’s more to a quality home wet bar than an extensive liquor collection. Having on hand the right sleek, smart-looking gadgets to dispense and mix your drinks, and keep them ice cold, will make entertaining guests even easier. These devices will have you and your guests drinking in high style.

Whether it’s a country home or more permanent abode, many urbanites have entertained the idea of owning farmland outside the city. If you find that your daily commute is routinely filled with daydreams of greener pastures, it may be time to start getting serious about making your farmstead fantasies a reality. One property located in the idyllic New Jersey countryside makes a serious case for a rural retreat.

For land-scarce metropoli like New York, architectural innovations tend to scale vertically: without a place to spread outwards, development takes to the skies. Meanwhile, in Amsterdam, innovation can be found at sea. A district of water homes located on a string of artificial islands adjacent to the city’s historic canals feels distinctly Dutch: dubbed the WaterWonen project (translates literally to living in water), modern houseboats are moored at a harbor conceived by Danish architecture firm Monteflore (responsible for designing one of the city’s most luxurious hotels). The independently-sailing vessels include homes—like this spacious steel converted cargo ship—that invite guests to come down out of the clouds and enjoy the delights of open water.

Two of the world’s art and architecture stars, Theaster Gates and Sir David Adjaye, have collaborated with musician and activist, Bono, to CURATE THE THIRD (RED) AUCTION to support the fight against AIDS. Centered on the theme of light and the color red, the collection of contemporary art and design will be exhibited and auctioned during Art Basel in Miami Beach and Design Miami.